


my mind always travels without you

by six_ways_to_hell



Series: The Years Ahead [1]
Category: The Lost Boys (Movies), The Lost Boys - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Road Trip, little bit of david's past, mentions of torture, nothing really graphic, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:53:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28357323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/six_ways_to_hell/pseuds/six_ways_to_hell
Summary: David reminisces on his dubious past with Max as he builds a new future with Michael. They head for David's hometown and he wonders if he can replace the bad memories with good ones.
Relationships: David/Michael Emerson (Lost Boys)
Series: The Years Ahead [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2076726
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	my mind always travels without you

Traveling with Michael was leagues away from traveling with Max. 

Although in those days, David was a newborn: wet behind the ears and entirely reliant on his sire. He may have hated Max with every fiber of his being, but there was no chance of survival without him. Damn if the smug bastard didn’t know that, and take advantage of David’s dependence. It wasn’t until they stopped semi-permanently in Santa Carla in the 60s that David felt some semblance of freedom. Max wanted to build his vampire family, and he had full confidence that he had an obedient and loyal dog in David. 

They found Dwayne, Paul, and Marko in much the same way they eventually found Michael. Young, lost men skulking amongst the boardwalks of Santa Carla. Each of them was made with Max’s blood and welcomed with open arms into the night. Ironically, because David was given the freedom to find “sons” for Max, the boys gravitated toward David as their definitive leader. Max hadn’t taken this lightly and quickly set about finding them a “mother” to reign them in. It was fucking ridiculous. As if a bunch of rebel vampires was going to bend to the will of some newborn calling herself their mother. David had even said so once. His boys had given him the confidence to speak to his sire frankly, which only bit him in the ass. David spent the next few months relying on the gang to bring his meals because the whip marks doused in holy water _wouldn't fucking heal_ . David learned better to keep quiet after that. 

His boys weren’t as smart and tried to avenge their leader. While David was laid up, Paul and Marko broke into Max’s estate, probably with some asinine idea that they were going to kill him in his sleep. Dwayne stayed behind, and would later tell David that he couldn’t get the two idiots to stay. Dwayne was always the smart one. The two trashed the place looking for Max, only to realize that he wasn’t home. When Marko made to leave, Max was at the front door. Max instantly snatched Marko by the neck and slammed his head onto the concrete outside, nearly killing him on impact. Paul had tried to run out the back, and, still holding Marko in his steel grip, rushed Paul and forced him against the wall. He had beaten both of them to bloody messes and hung them out to wait for the sun. 

The threatening sunrise had Paul and Marko begging for their lives, and it wasn’t until the first rays scorched Paul’s foot were they finally brought back inside. When they were shipped back to the hotel the next night, David threatened to do much worse if they even thought of doing something so stupid again. Although how could they have known? David was the one who knew Max the most and was well acquainted with his form of “discipline”. If anything, it was his fault as the leader for not warning them. They all collectively agreed not to overstep Max’s boundaries again. 

Despite the punishing reminder of Max’s power, the lines were blurred, and his sire knew he was losing his grip with them, especially David. He summoned a hellhound and even committed one of the most egregious sins any self-respecting vampire can do. He forced his blood on a child, making the poor boy Laddie a half-vampire. In David’s first years as a vampire, it was constantly hammered into his head by Max to never turn a child. Not for any moral reasons, but because vampire children are dangerous for everyone, humans and vamps alike. They’re unpredictable and are typically more violent without any restraint. Transitioning from a human to a vampire is a hard enough battle for an adult, but children are not equipped to handle such a process. They scream and kill indiscriminately, crying out into the night for their humanity. It’s an explosive event, and unless they’re put out of their misery fast enough, could end up alerting hunters to a vampire’s hideout. Laddie was sent to live with the boys, to teach “responsibility” or some shit. While the boys tried to treat the poor kid well, David felt like they were living with a ticking time bomb.

It was clear Max was losing his touch. Or maybe he was surprised that he couldn’t control four rambunctious vampires when he could so easily puppet one before. Seeing for the first time his sire lose face, David knew he could turn the tables his way by making a vampire of his own. To think that after all those lectures, Max broke his own greatest rule. He had to do it subtly though. Brute force would never work against your sire. Not without years of training that David didn’t have. Then Star came into the picture. 

Star was an outlier; a half-vampire escaping to Santa Carla away from her gang before they could force her to kill. She was beautiful and elusive and would have made a perfect equal for David, both as a lover and the key to freedom. David initially saw potential in her, but it was clear she had zero interest in turning over. Right away, she took to Laddie, possibly some kind of kinship between half-vampires that David didn’t understand. It didn’t matter, because he was getting increasingly frustrated with Star living with them, using them as a cover from her gang, and shitting on them for being who they were. They were goddamn vampires, what exactly did she expect?

David had lost hope in Star. She couldn’t help him and only served to take up space whilst bemoaning their lifestyle. They didn’t have to hide her from her vamp gang, David certainly didn’t want to anymore unless she got over it and made her damn kill already. It’s possible she sensed this and immediately started to make secondary plans. None of that mattered to David when Star led Micheal to them. 

Michael was everything. Star had good taste.

He was gorgeous and even better, receptive to him and his boys. He fit in instantly. David was actually impressed by that punch, and it seemed like this was a shoo-in. Besides a botched attempt with a brainless surfer a few years back, David had never turned anyone before. He had loved his boys, but they were born from Max’s blood, and accordingly had never formed that deeper connection between sire and childe with any of them. 

David could hardly describe the pure ecstasy of seeing Michael glut on his blood like wine. This soon-to-be vampire was his in every way, and David could almost understand his sire at that moment. To make your own man molded beneath your fingers and to watch them live again is a power trip beyond understanding. He should’ve kept an eye on Star after that. 

Maybe then he could’ve kept his boys.

But Max was dead, and he had Michael now, and he couldn’t regret either of those things.

Santa Carla was in the past now, becoming more dangerous to live with the increase of hunters moving in. Leaving hadn’t been easy, but it wasn’t particularly emotionally hard either. One family dead, another torn apart. Star driving herself crazy with bloodlust and killing even more people because of it, which caught the attention of her gang and a shit-ton of hunters. Michael had packed up and left his family for their own safety and had holed himself up in some filthy motel room. David had ripped himself off the antlers and had barely survived on his own. His boys freshly dead and numerous holes in his chest made him more animal than man those next few nights. Eventually, when he got his bearings, he found Michael in that motel room, and…well...the less said about that night the better. It took a lot of pain for both of them to get to this point.

Traveling with Michael was different than with Max in every way. Max was oppressive and taught him everything he knows with full intent on keeping David on a short leash. Michael is curious and freeing, excited for every new town to explore with David by his side. He looked to David for guidance. Michael was his and deserved to learn without fear as David did. That past is not a time that David likes to dwell on, not that there are many times in his life that he can easily say were pleasant.

The bus pulled off the highway, and David felt a strange wave of nostalgia as they got closer to his hometown. Michael’s voice was muffled with his face pressed into David’s shoulder.

“What’re you thinking about?”

He sounded tired, though there were still a few good hours before sunrise. Michael’s usually a late-sleeper, but being on the road doesn’t allow for such a luxury. Not when sleeping in could get you caught out in the daylight without any warning. Since then, Michael’s schedule has left him in a near-constant state of fatigue. They planned to settle down for a bit. David’s hometown being pretty close seemed like fate.

“Just about how your face can pull off scruffy so well.” David said with a weary sort of fondness. Michael snorted into his jacket.

“Only ‘cause you won’t let me being anything else, your like, my only mirror man.”

“What can I say, “ David dragged his free hand through Michael’s curls, scratching briefly before moving down to rest on his cheek, “I know what I like.”

They both smile, letting the occasional bumps on the road lull them into comfy security before they would have to get up and be monsters again.


End file.
